Restorative Dentistry

Braz Oral Res

2006;20(2):155-61
Restorative Dentistry

Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD

technology
Características de corte de pontas odontológicas diamantadas
obtidas pela tecnologia CVD
Luciana Monti Lima*
Cristiane Motisuki**
Lourdes dos Santos-Pinto***
Ary dos Santos-Pinto***
Evaldo Jose Corat****

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine the cutting ability of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond
burs coupled to an ultrasonic dental unit handpiece for minimally invasive cavity preparation. One standard cav-
ity was prepared on the mesial and distal surfaces of 40 extracted human third molars either with cylindrical or
with spherical CVD burs. The cutting ability was compared regarding type of substrate (enamel and dentin) and
direction of handpiece motion. The morphological characteristics, width and depth of the cavities were analyzed
and measured using scanning electron micrographs. Statistical analysis using the Kruskal-Wallis test (p < 0.05)
revealed that the width and depth of the cavities were significantly greater when they were prepared on dentin.
Wider cavities were prepared when the cylindrical CVD bur was used, and deeper cavities resulted from prepara-
tion with the spherical CVD bur. The direction of handpiece motion did not influence the size of the cavities, and
the CVD burs produced precise and conservative cutting.
DESCRIPTORS: Dental cavity preparation; Ultrasonography; Diamond; Dentistry, Operative.

RESUMO: O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a habilidade de corte das pontas de diamante obtidas pelo pro-
cesso de deposição química a vapor (CVD) associadas ao aparelho de ultra-som no preparo cavitário minimamente
invasivo. Uma cavidade padronizada foi preparada nas faces mesial e distal de 40 terceiros molares, utilizando-se
pontas de diamante CVD cilíndrica e esférica. A habilidade de corte foi comparada quanto ao tipo de substrato
(esmalte e dentina) e quanto à direção do movimento realizado com a ponta. As características morfológicas, a
largura e profundidade das cavidades foram analisadas e medidas em microscopia eletrônica de varredura. A aná-
lise estatística pelo teste de Kruskal-Wallis (p < 0,05) revelou que a largura e profundidade das cavidades foram
significativamente maiores em dentina. Cavidades mais largas foram obtidas quando se utilizou a ponta de dia-
mante CVD cilíndrica, e mais profundas quando a ponta esférica foi empregada. A direção do movimento da ponta
não influenciou o tamanho das cavidades, sendo os cortes produzidos pelas pontas de diamante CVD precisos e
conservadores.
DESCRITORES: Preparo de cavidade dentária; Ultrasonografia; Diamante; Dentística Operatória.

INTRODUCTION
The concepts of adhesive dentistry are gener-
ally applied to cavities prepared with the traditional
handpiece and dental bur. However, alternative
devices for dental cutting have been suggested for
cavity preparation and finishing in an attempt to
further preserve tooth structure and take advan-
tages of new bonding systems.
Recently, the technology for diamond growth
by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been
used for the fabrication of new dental burs with
continuous diamond films (CVDentUS - Cloro-
vale Diamantes, São Paulo, Brazil). The direct
CVD diamond deposition on molybdenum tips
allows a fabrication process that exhibits high
adhesion characteristics of the diamond coating.
The new diamond coated burs obtained by this
process are adaptable to the handpiece of any
ultrasonic instrument commonly used in dental

* MD, Graduate Student; **DDS, Graduate Student; ***PhDs, Associate Professors – Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School
of Dentistry of Araraquara, São Paulo State University.
**** PhD, Physicist Researcher, National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

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Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.
offices for calculus removal. According to Borges
et al.1 (1999), the new dental diamond bur con-
sists of a continuous film of diamond without a
metallic binder between crystals, preventing the
contamination of the tooth by metal ions usu-
ally present in the binder matrix of conventional
burs. The CVD burs are also highly resistant to
cutting and demonstrate efficient cutting ability
and longevity.
Some researchers demonstrated that CVD
diamond burs used for cavity preparation present
similar or better performances than the conven-
tional diamond bur in microleakage3,10 and bond
strength tests8, but information on the characteris-
tics of the cavity generated in enamel or dentin with
CVD burs so far is not available in the literature.
The purpose of this in vitro study was to analyze
the morphological characteristics of the cavities
prepared with CVD burs and to evaluate whether
different CVD bur shapes and directions of the ul-
trasonic handpiece motion would affect the size of
cavity preparation on enamel and dentin. The size
of cavity preparation was defined, in this study,
as the measurement of the width and depth of
the cavities. The null hypotheses to be tested are:
there is no difference in cavity sizes prepared with
CVD burs coupled to an ultrasonic device regard-
ing type of dental tissue, bur shape and direction
of the ultrasonic motion.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The cutting characteristics of two CVD burs
(UCP1215 and UEE1010, CVDentUS - Clorovale
Diamantes, São Paulo, Brazil) coupled to an ultra-
sonic dental unit handpiece (Prof I AS Ceramic -
Dabi Atlante, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) were tested
using 40 extracted human non-carious third mo-
lars. The teeth were gathered with the patients’
Table 1 - Experimental design of the study.
Time Substrate Type of bur
Cylindrical
Enamel
Spherical
30 s
Cylindrical
Dentin
Spherical
156
informed consent (Protocol nº 20/02), approved by
the institutional ethics committee. The teeth were
obtained from young adults (ages ranging from
17 to 23 years). After extraction the teeth were
debrided with a periodontal curette, cleaned and
stored in 1% thymol solution at room temperature
for up to 2 months.
Each tooth had its root removed and the coro-
nal portion was sectioned longitudinally following
the buccolingual plane. The sectioned teeth were
set in blocks of methacrylate resin so that either
the mesial or distal enamel surface or the inter-
nal dentin surfaces were exposed. The specimens
were randomly assigned to eight different groups
(n = 10), as described in Table 1.
One standard cavity was prepared in each
specimen. Operation of the ultrasonic handpiece
was controlled using an experimental electro-me-
chanical apparatus that held both the specimen
and the handpiece. The handpiece was mounted
on an adjustable holder and the CVD bur was
aligned to touch the tooth surface. This device
standardizes cavity preparation by controlling the
distance traveled (3.5 mm), the speed (5.3 mm/
s) of the handpiece, the load (0.12 N) of the bur
against the specimen and the preparation time
(30 s). The ultrasonic unit was operated at 26 kHz
oscillation frequency and an acoustical power of
approximately 24 W. For each test group, all ten
specimens were tested sequentially using the des-
ignated bur shape and direction of the handpiece
working movement (Figure 1).
The test surfaces were sectioned, dividing
the cavity in two halves. The sectioned specimens
were examined by SEM with 50 X magnification
(JSM – 5600LV, JEOL-USA, Inc., Peabody, MA,
USA) to determine the width and the depth of the
cavities. A technique modified from cephalometric
analyses12 was applied to measure the size of the
Motion direction Groups (n = 10)
Parallel 1
Perpendicular 2
Parallel 3
Perpendicular 4
Parallel 5
Perpendicular 6
Parallel 7
Perpendicular 8
Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.

Is
A
Io OCSA

B
b W
d

C Ic CCSA

D
F Figure 2 - Cross section of cavity prepared using a CVD
Figure 1 - Ultrasonic handpiece (A); specific connector
(B); direction of the burLima F01 (C); specimen in the
oscillation
blocks of methacrylate resin (D); ultrasonic handpiece
working motion: perpendicular (E) or parallel to the di-
rection of the bur oscillation (F).
bur showing the points, the traced lines and the mea-
surements made using the digitizing program. OCSA:
occlusal cavosurface angle; CCSA: cervical cavosurface
angle; ls: approximately the original surface of the un-
cut enamel or dentin; lo: internal wall of the cavity from
the occlusal side; lc: internal wall of the cavity from the
cervical side; w: width of the cavity measured between
OCSA and CCSA; d: depth of the cavity measured be-
tween point b and line ls.

Table 2 - Means and Standard Deviations (SD) of the width and depth of the cavities for each experimental condi-
tion.

Motion Width (µm) Depth (µm)

Substrate Type of bur Group
direction Mean SD Mean SD
Parallel 856.94 121.50 74.75 31.46 1
Cylindrical
Perpendicular 1,037.34 129.23 99.37 26.50 2
Enamel
Parallel 768.41 87.01 131.36 29.11 3
Spherical
Perpendicular 762.35 74.07 135.54 28.97 4
Parallel 1,161.26 22.76 150.58 25.67 5
Cylindrical
Perpendicular 1,199.90 41.97 181.60 36.03 6
Dentin
Parallel 882.83 100.69 211.55 44.98 7
Spherical
Perpendicular 879.93 50.42 235.60 32.36 8

cavities. Figure 2 shows how the landmarks were RESULTS

identified for the measurements. The points were
digitized and the distances were calculated using
Radiocef 4.0 (Radiocef Memory Ltda., Belo Hori-
zonte, Brazil).
The width and depth (µm) of the cavities were
measured and mean values and standard de-
viations were calculated. Data were analyzed by
means of a Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric method
performed on the rank order data at a significance
level of p ≤ 0.05, and the Rank Sum Difference
Multiple Comparison test was used to identify any
difference.
Means and standard deviations of the width
and depth of the cavities for each of the experimen-
tal conditions are summarized in Table 2. Results
of the Kruskal-Wallis test showed statistical signifi-
cant differences among the groups. It was apparent
that the width and depth of the cavities prepared
on dentin were significantly larger than on enamel.
Tables 3 and 4 show the results of the pair-wise
comparison between groups. The cavities prepared
with the spherical CVD bur were significantly deeper
while wider cavities were prepared with the cylindri-

157
Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.

Table 3 - Summary of the statistical analyses: Comparison of type of bur shape.

Width Depth
Motion direction Enamel Dentin Enamel Dentin
Cylindrical versus Spherical Cylindrical versus Spherical
Parallel ns s s s
Perpendicular s s s s
s = statistically significant; ns = not statistically significant.

Table 4 - Summary of the statistical analyses: Comparison of motion direction.

Motion direction Width Depth
Enamel Dentin Enamel Dentin
Parallel versus
Cylind. Spher. Cylind. Spher. Cylind. Spher. Cylind. Spher.
Perpendicular
s ns ns ns ns ns ns ns
s = statistically significant; ns = not statistically significant.

A B

Figure 3 - Cavities prepared with spherical CVD bur in enamel (A) and dentin (B).

cal bur, even with the same width (1.0 mm) of the
burs (Table 3). Differences in the cutting effective-
ness as a function of the direction of the handpiece
working movement were apparent only for enamel
prepared with the cylindrical bur (Table 4).
Scanning electron micrographs revealed a cav-
ity preparation without sharp internal angles (Fig-
ures 3 and 4). The morphological characteristics
of the internal cavity wall were similar to the CVD
bur surfaces (Figures 5 and 6).
DISCUSSION
One of the causes of failed tooth restora-
tions is related to cavity design and preparation
methods. Cavity design depends on the physical
properties and requirements of the restorative
material, the extent of the carious lesion, access
to the cavity and available equipment and instru-
mentation.
With the advent of adhesive restorative mate-
rials and the subsequent development of minimal
cavity design, several currently available instru-
ments were introduced for removing caries and for
cavity preparation. Since the design and surface
finish of the cavity preparation produced by these
new technologies differ from those produced using
the traditional methods, a complete understand-
ing of the CVD bur cavity preparation is needed so
that clinicians using this methodology can select a

158
Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.
A B
Figure 4 - Cavities prepared with cylindrical CVD bur in enamel (A) and dentin (B). Irregularities may have been
made by different sizes of diamond (arrow).
Figure 5 - Morphological characteristics of cavity wall.
specific bur to achieve expected outcomes.
SEM analysis demonstrated a distinct design
in the prepared cavity produced by the different
CVD bur shapes. Cavities made with the CVD
spherical bur presented a “U” shape while those
prepared with the cylindrical bur reminded a “[”
symbol (Figures 3 and 4). Dietschi et al.2 (1994)
reported that utilization of a U-shaped cavity is
an effective method of treating primary caries le-
sions that, according to contemporary restorative
concepts, are restored exclusively with composite
resin. Figures 3 and 4 show that the shape of the
bur plays an important role in the cavity appear-
ance. However, the oscillating frequency of the bur
and the direction of handpiece motion did not influ-
ence the cavity design. In all cavities, the margins
of the preparation were well defined and no cracks
on the cavity margin were observed in enamel or
dentin. The internal walls had no sharp angles and
presented some irregularities probably made by
the different sizes of diamond crystals of the CVD
burs (Figures 3 and 4). In cavities prepared with
SonicSys (KaVo Dental GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach,
Germany), some irregularities observed on the cav-
ity margins were attributed to the indentations of
the diamond tip of the instrument13. Enamel crack-
ing around the cavity preparation is commonly
observed after laser irradiation5,11, application of
high-speed diamond burs4,7,15 and also with sonic
instruments9,13.
Higher magnification of the cavity preparation
revealed uniform roughness on the internal walls
(Figure 5) similar to the diamond bur surface (Fig-
ure 6). In the cutting process, the “negative shape”
of the bur surface was transferred to the tooth. This
characteristic shows the accurate cutting produced
by CVD burs, reproducing, on the tooth surface, the
morphological shape of the CVD diamond crystal,
while irregular lines on the cutting tooth surface
are visible in cavities prepared with conventional
diamond burs in a high speed device.
Data on relative cutting abilities of diamond
burs were obtained as far back as 1955. Hudson et
al.6 (1955) reported that diamond abrasive instru-
ments used in high speed cavity preparation de-
vices are more efficient when cutting tooth enamel,
and Sockwell14 (1971) reported that diamond burs
are effective for extra-coronal preparation, cusp
159
Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.
A B
Figure 6 - Morphological characteristics of CVD burs’ surface. Cylindrical shape (A) and Spherical shape (B).
reduction and beveling margins. However, in the
present study, when the CVD bur was used on
dentin, the cavities were wider and deeper.
The width of the cavities made with the spheri-
cal bur was approximately 35% smaller than that
made with the cylindrical bur. These findings may
be explained by the fact that in the 30 seconds of
application of the apparatus, the spherical bur
did not penetrate into dentin enough to reach its
greatest diameter (1.0 mm).
The direction of the handpiece motion did not
alter the width of the cavities, except when the
cylindrical CVD bur was used in cutting enamel
perpendicular to the direction of the bur ultra-
sonic vibration. These results indicate that the
width of the cavities obtained in this experimental
condition was larger (1,037.34 µm); however, its
measurement was similar to the cylindrical bur
diameter (1.0 mm). The fact that the width of the
cavities is not different with the two directions of
the working handpiece movement shows that the
cutting action of the CVD bur is efficient when the
handpiece movement is parallel or perpendicular
to the direction of the bur oscillation. Once the bur
has penetrated the tooth surface, moving it in any
direction produced a similar cutting action. When
using CVD burs in ultrasonic units, it is important
for clinicians to be knowledgeable about the cutting
efficiency with different bur shapes and movements
to predict the cavity design.
160
The present results provided statistical evi-
dence that the mean cavity depths observed in den-
tin were larger than those observed in enamel. The
depth of the cavities made with the spherical CVD
bur was approximately 40% greater than when
the cylindrical bur was used. One of the probable
explanations for this finding may be the smaller
diameter of the spherical bur tip resulting in higher
local pressure during the cutting procedure. The
direction of the handpiece working movement did
not alter the depth of the cavities.
The success of minimally invasive techniques
is measured by the degree of preservation of sound
dental hard tissue. The results of this study showed
that this new cavity preparation method allows
conservation of tooth structure. Since this tech-
nique does not require modification of a clinician’s
restorative technique or extensive training, the new
dental diamond bur offers a promising perspective
with regard to conservative cavity preparation.
CONCLUSION
• The cavities prepared in dentin were larger
and deeper than in enamel, regardless of CVD
bur shape and ultrasonic handpiece motion
direction.
• The spherical CVD bur produced deeper cav-
ity preparations, while cylindrical CVD bur
produced larger cavity preparations.
Lima LM, Motisuki C, Santos-Pinto L, Santos-Pinto A, Corat EJ. Cutting characteristics of dental diamond burs made with CVD
technology. Braz Oral Res 2006;20(2):155-61.
• The direction of the ultrasonic handpiece mo-
tion, parallel or perpendicular to the direction of
the bur ultrasonic vibration, produced cavities
similar in width and depth, except for cavities
in enamel made by the cylindrical CVD bur.
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Received for publication on Jun 23, 2005
Sent for alterations on Nov 16, 2005
Accepted for publication on May 02, 2006
161